Nursing Assistant

[Snowfairy1004]

Has anyone worked as a Nurse Assistant? Was it a good experience? Would you recommend it for medical experience?

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[Spitting Camel]

Nurse assistants are called PCA's or Patient Care assistants. Basically, you measure urine, take vitals, change diapers, bath, and feed patients. It's great insight into the work of nurses and other members of the health care team. I think you should do it, but also get some expeience shadowing physicians because how would you respond to this question at an interview:

How do you know you don't want to be a nurse since that is the only experience you have? Or something to that respect...


I still say do it!

 

[cmudan]

I'm a certified nursing assistant a CNA. It is the best experience that I could have possibly had in college working part time.

DO IT!!!

I think it should be a requirement to wipe azzes in order to become a doctor. It puts things in perspective.

 

[drdr2010]

i was a CNA in undergrad...it was the most disgusting, difficult, highest paying, rewarding job i have ever experienced. and all the med schools i interviewed at wanted to talk about it.
do it!!!

 

[ayo302]

just make sure you don't get your training at a community college where all the instructors and administrators barely understand english or need hearing aids and are all old enough to be in a nursing home themselves (*ahem* city colleges of chicago).. the classroom part was the worst educational experience of my life, but the in-the-field stuff definitely made up for it a hundred-fold! taught me a lot about reality

 

[ATPase]

Hey, ayo302, we must be twins...

Anyway, RE nursing assistants - I worked as a nursing assistant in an OR one summer. We would transport patients to the holding area before surgery, clean up the OR suites after surgery to prepare for the next case, fetch equipment for the nurses, etc. It was great (other than picking up bloody pieces of tissue and cartilage off the floor) because I got to see tons of interesting surgeries.

 

[Snowfairy1004]

I've been looking at the Jobs at my hospital near me... there's always about 10 openings for NAs. Does the job differ in OB, Med/Surg, ER, etc.? Or do you do basically the same things? Has anyone done health unit coordinating?

 

[PreMedAdAG]

Where and how long does it take... to be a CNA???

Snowfairy.. my sister and brother in law live in Wheaton!!

 

[PreMedAdAG]

Also, what kind of training do CNA's have that EMT's couldn't do that kind of job? Just wondering.. I can't seem to find a job as an EMT and I am pissed that I spent the money on it.

 

[DoctorWannaBe]

PreMedAdAG,
I also just finished my EMT training and am mad that I didn't know more about the job market for EMT's. In my city, you can't be an EMT on an ambulance unless you go through a firefighting program, which I'm not going to do. Some hospitals around here do hire EMT's to work as Patient Care Technicians (one step above CNA) in the ER. You might look into that, or also see if some hospitals have paid training for CNAs/PCTs. I know one hospital around here that trains people who have no certification.

 

[2badr]

Originally posted by DoctorWannaBe
PreMedAdAG,
I also just finished my EMT training and am mad that I didn't know more about the job market for EMT's. In my city, you can't be an EMT on an ambulance unless you go through a firefighting program, which I'm not going to do. Some hospitals around here do hire EMT's to work as Patient Care Technicians (one step above CNA) in the ER. You might look into that, or also see if some hospitals have paid training for CNAs/PCTs. I know one hospital around here that trains people who have no certification.

I considered NA before deciding on something else because I found a lot of volunteer services in this area would train you to be a PCA free of charge. (The NA schools I looked into did not seem reputable, had terrible hours - had a job i couldn't afford to give up, wanted too much money, or wanted me to have a net salary way below the poverty line.)

So I decided to just try to get the experience from volunteering at the hospital.

If you have a chance, I'd say do it!

 

[Snowfairy1004]

I think I'm going to go ahead with the NA class. I did look into EMT but that's the whole summer and I will traveling to Trinidad doing medical missions for the first half of the summer which makes EMT impossible. I think I will get ER Tech certified after I graduate during my Gap year cause I'm really interested in EM. But I think for now NA will be great to atleast get my foot in the door.
To be a CNA you have to take a training course. Tons of Community colleges, vocational schools and some universities offer them through the nursing department. I'm going to do mine at a Community College in MN while hopefull working part time as a Health unit coordinator. But we shall see.